Floor height?

Lots of info here:

Greg.P. NZ

Or, here's BNSF data. Flat car deck height ranges around 3'9"

Greg.P. NZ

Somebody should mention that in the US such heights are generally given using the railhead as a reference point.

well, in the Netherlands you could probably use height above sea level...

On 3/18/2010 10:26 PM Twibil spake thus:

What else could you possibly use as a reference?

In half of The Netherlands too...

On 3/19/2010 8:35 AM bobharvey spake thus:

... and in Death Valley, height *below* sea level ...

Tie height. Loading ramp height. Washington Generals height. Or lack thereof.

That's what the IPCC thought, but they were Wrong and were so informed by the Dutch government!

More likely the height below sealevel! ;-)

Thanks to everyone who responded (and several who didn't)

Regards, Greg.P. NZ

I suppose one could place a model on a flat surface and measure deck height from the flanges.

35+ years ago when I started kitbashing and scratchbuilding I took a foot long 2"x1" piece of dressed timber and cut two grooves 16.5mm apart. (outer edges of the grooves) I mounted a coupler gauge at one end. It enables me to measure heights of models from railhead level. Other than my trusty craft knife (203 new blades, 4 new handles) this has to be my most used modelling tool.

Regards, greg.P.

On 3/23/2010 3:31 PM Greg.Procter spake thus:

One could. One could also, conceivably, measure deck height from the top of the trucks, or the level of the trainline, or whatever. The point I was trying to make is that the railhead is the only sensible reference point for any car measurements, since it's the only place that can be reliably and precisely measured from, regardless of the weight of rail used or other variable factors.

Someone may want to know how high the sill of a boxcar is from the level of the ties, for example, for the purpose of loading the car, but that isn't ever going to be a precise measurement, since it depends on the height of the rail (and maybe even the thickness of fish plates, etc.).

For your purposes, measuring height from the flanges amounts to the same thing, as this is also a precise reference point (well, as long as you have the same size trucks and wheels as those the car was designed and drawn for). All you need to do is subtract the flange height if you're using a measurement made from the railhead.